The Council: Reading the HoH
by BlackConverse3
Summary: Hey readers! This is a continuation of my first story, The Council: Reading MoA but with the House of Hades. Continues 3 weeks...about...after Percy and Annabeth return to where they were originally. Rated T. I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it.
1. Chapter 1

**Whats up! I'm BlackConverse3 and this is my new story, The Council: Reading HoH. Many of you have read my other story, The Council: Reading MoA, and I hope all my followers and everyone who read my story before will look for this one and enjoy it. Thank you for the support and being amazing. Now, let's start. **

**I do not own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan own the the bold writing. **

**This is for all my readers and all of fanfiction. Love you guys, keep reading and writing. **

Three weeks passed...as Percy and Annabeth were transported back to Tartarus in the same blackout that had filled the Big House that had transported the Mark of Athena to them. Nobody wanted to talk about what happened. It seemed to close. Being unable to crowd in the Big House, with both their leaders with them and feeling that satisfaction that filled your stomach.

You knew they were going to make it.

But now...they had began to worry. After finding out about the two's Tartarus fall...several people became furious. Angry and betrayed that they were not told what happened sooner. Apollo, the sun god, was the one who revealed the news...accidentally of course. Percy and Annabeth were terrified. Everyone who sat in the Dining Pavilion remembered as Percy revealed the truth. _His jaw trembled and his fists clenched, his sea-green eyes glinted with unresolved anger. _

Now, as dinner slowly came to a close, Chiron tapped his hoof onto the rough ground. "Everyone in the Big House."

One by one, the demigods, Grover, Tyson and a new addition, Ella the Harpy, made their way over the Big House. Chiron's tail flicked nervously as he noticed the expressions of the rest of the campers. They seemed nervous, and also frowns adorned their faces as they retracted their steps to the Big House again.

As soon as everyone settled down, Chiron began going on about battle plans and discussing border patrol shifts.

"Chiron..."

As soon as Grover's words were spoken, everyone became silent. The Lord of the Wild raised his left hand, pointing towards the now open door. Wind blew harshly against it, slamming the doorknob into the wall next to it. Campers all tensed up, ready for an ambush.

Will ran his finger lightly across the golden shaft of the arrow that rested in his bow. Clarrise slowly moved her hand back, so it rested on the very end of her electric spear that was strapped to her back and the sword-wielders fingered the grip and hooked their fingers under the hilt.

A bright light shined outside for a brief second before a someone stepped into the room.

"Chiron...it's here." The girl gasped, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. In her pale hands, flecks of red paint splattered onto the back of her hand, there was a package.

It was tied with old twine, spider webs were tangled into the twine.

It looked exactly like the other one.

Immediately, campers all rushed forward to Rachael, who yelped and backed away from the grabbing hands.

"Enough! All of you sit down!" Chiron's voice rang through the room and echoed into the empty clearing. As soon as she wasn't crowded, she set the book in the old centaurs hands and spoke, her voice cracking, "Chiron. I found this on my night table, there was no note on it...I didn't want to open it because..." Her voice trailed away.

The centaur put his hand gently on her shoulder, "It's find, dear. Let's see what it is. Clarrise, child. You knife, please?"

The daughter of Ares nodded and walked over to the camp activities director, unsheathing her bronze knife from the strap on her thigh, flipping it around before handing it to him.

Placing the blade under the twine, he hesitated.

_Should we really open this? Do we have a right to? Based on Racheal's expression, it must have something to do with the quest. _

"Chiron? Are you going to open it?" Travis Stoll asked, his green eyes filled with eagerness and hope.

Without even meaning to, the blade slipped upward from his trembling hand and cut the twine like scissors cutting a piece of paper. The wrappings fell off and settled gently next to the thing that was inside. Chiron's heart clenched with fear and despair. It was what he feared.

_A book._

All around him, the emotions seemed so strong that it almost chocked him from the breath being knocked out of him.

All eyes were trained on the cover of the book. _The House of Hades._

_Gods...the cover. _He felt like a Cyclopes was pressing it's foot against his chest. He could see Grover's eyes fill with sadness. Chiron knew that it had been hard for him to gave to say goodbye to his best friends as they were transported back to Tartarus. Hundreds of hugs, good-luck kisses on the cheek, blessings and determined looks were exchanged that day. Camp had gone on, but their was a sadness looming in the air and nothing, not even jokes from the Stolls, could get anyone out of this mood.

"Can we read it? Please Chiron?" Grover pleaded, his big eyes staring into his own.

A few shook their head in disagreement. Chiron understood _why_. They didn't want to have to go through more stuff that was in store for their future and in store for their family.

"We need to read it. We need to know what's going to happen in the future." Chris muttered.

Chiron rested his hands on the table, "It's up to you. If you want to read it, then we will."

A few minutes of silence past, and then everyone began nodding and calling out, "Read it."

"I will read first, if you don't mind." Chiron announced and they all began moving about, moving the ping-pong table against the wall as they had done before and sitting in close quarters.

Chiron resisted the urge to smile as he noticed most of the siblings in the room: holding hands for comfort, arms wrapped around others and weary smiled exchanged between even the campers everyone thought were rivals.

Even though the previous book had torn up their hearts and emotions, they leaned upon each other now. Ready for what was in store. And no matter what happened, they would always be family.

Chiron cleared his throat and then began, "Let's began. **Hazel I**."

**Like it? Did you like the House of Hades? My mind was already exploding in the author's note. It was an absolute amazing book and Rick, this was one of your best books. The Percabeth moments were awesome and the thing with Nico, it made me cry. It was so sweet and so unexpected and I had to reread the chapter twice to process what I read, and I still can't totally process what I read. It was the one thing, that I'm pretty sure, NO ONE even though of Rick doing that. But, it was one of my favorite scenes in the book. :) ****Thanks for supporting me guys! I'll update next week sometime!**

**Love, **

**BlackConverse3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey my beautiful people! You know what happened to me during my Ancient History class? My teacher was talking about Greek gods, and because of Percy Jackson, I know like all the myths and all about the gods and the day after the House of Hades came out, I was like all sad and my teacher got all concerned and he called me back after class was over and he said, "Hey, BlackConverse3(Like I would use my real name. :)) you alright? Is everything okay at home? Is someone hurting you? Do you want to go to the office?" And I looked at him in the eyes and said, "Rick Riodran ruined my life." He stared at me for a moment before he just beamed and clapped me on the back, "I'll make a deal with you. If he kills off Percy or anyone of the 7 or anyone awesome, I'll buy you a box of tissues and buy you another Blood of Olympus book so you can tear the old one to shreds." ****MY TEACHER UNDERSTANDS ME AND IT IS AMAZING AND I HUGGED HIM! NOW WE DISCUSS THE BOOKS IN CLASS AND NO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT AND IT IS AMAZING! Officially Favorite Teacher In The World! So, I just wanted to say...SUCK IT Y'ALL! BEST FREAKING TEACHER IN THE WORLD! Love you guys! **

**I do not own Percy Jackson. All the bold writing goes to Rick Riodran.**

Chiron opened the book and cleared his throat, "**Hazel I**."

**DURING THE THIRD ATTACK, Hazel almost ate a boulder. **

"You've got to be kidding me. Why do we always get attacked on quests?" Grover complained.

"Well...they are in a powerful _Greek_ warship, with _three kids of the big three_ and 5 of them happen to be part of the Next Prophecy." Katie reasoned.

"Still, we never get a break!"

"Are we just going to completely ignore what Chiron read, about her almost eating a boulder?"

Blank looks were sent to Lou, who sighed.

"There's not reasoning with you guys."

**She was peering into the fog, wondering how it could be so difficult to fly across one stupid mountain range, when the ship's alarm bells sounded. **

"Dude. What if mountains can move?" Connor whispered.

His brother winced, "That would just suck."

**"Hard to port!" Nico yelled from the foremast of the flying ship.**

"NICO!" Travis and Connor yelled in glee.

**Back at the helm, Leo yanked the wheel. The _Argo II _veered left, its aerial oars slashing through the clouds like rows of knives. **

"Go Leo, Go!"

"Run away from the crazy alive mountains!"

**Hazel made the mistake of looking over the rail. A dark, spherical shape hurtling toward her. ****She thought: _Why is the moon coming at us?_**

"Why would the moon be coming towards the Argo?"

Malcolm let out a sigh, "She's not being serious."

"But isn't the moon made out of cheese?"

**Then she yelped and hit the deck. The huge rock-**

"Oh. The first sentence makes sense."

**-passed so close overhead it blew her hair out of her face.**

**_CRACK! _**

"I bet something broke."

Harley grumbled under his breath, as did most of the camper who had helped with the Argo II.

**The foremast collapsed- sails, spars, and Nico all crashing to the deck. **

"Well...that's just a ball full of fun." Will muttered.

**The boulder, roughly the size of a pickup truck, tumbled off into the fog like it had important business elsewhere. **

A few chuckled at Hazel's thoughts.

"To finally fill the empty shell that Travis calls a head?" Katie asked and the Stoll brother gasped in horror.

"Kate, I'm shocked that you can actually tell a joke. I _never_ knew you had it in you."

"Shut it."

**"Nico!" Hazel scrambled over to him as Leo brought the ship level.**

**"I'm fine," Nico muttered, kicking folds of canvas off his legs. **

**She helped him up, and they stumbled to the bow. Hazel peeked over more carefully this time. **

"Good." Grover nodded.

**The clouds parted just long enough to reveal the top of the mountain below them: a spearhead of black rock jutting from mossy green slopes. Standing at the summit was a mountain god-one of the _numina montanum, _Jason has called them. **

"Wow, that's a mouth full."

"They're ourae." Malcolm supplied.

Chiron nodded to the son of Athena, "Good Malcolm."

**Or _ourae_, in Greek. Whatever you called them, they were nasty. **

Chiron stopped reading for a moment and said, "No kidding."

**Like the others they faced, this one wore a simple tunic over skin as rough and dark as basalt. **

"Basalt? Sounds like a kind of _Pokémon_..." Connor muttered.

"You're kidding? Right?" Lou Ellen asked, her eyebrow raised.

He let out a nervous laugh, tugging at the collar of his orange counselor shirt, "Of course."

**He was about twenty feet tall and extremely muscular, with a flowing white beard, scraggly hair, and a wild look in his eyes, like a crazy hermit. **

"Like those two." Grover muttered to Katie, glancing at Connor and Travis, who smirked at the satyr.

**He bellowed something Hazel didn't understand, but it obviously wasn't welcoming. With his bare hands, he pried another chunk of rock from his mountain and began shaping it into a ball. **

**The scene disappeared in the fog, but when the mountain god bellowed again, other _numina_ answered in the distance, their voices echoing through the valleys. **

"Fantastic." Malcolm groaned. "They're more."

**"Stupid rock gods!" Leo yelled from the helm.**

A son of Nike gasped, "Leo! Don't make the rock god angry, he's a freaking mountain!"

Travis bit the corner of his lip to stop a joke from popping out, but Connor quipped his out, "Yo mama's so big that when she went around the house, she went _around_ the house."

Mischief eyes meet and the Hermes cabin busted out laughed, while Chiron shook his head slightly at their behavior.

"Oh, enough of your jokes, you two." He scolded the Stolls lightly.

They nodded, trying to regain the breath they had lost.

**"That's the _third_ time I've replaced that mast! You think they grow on trees?"**

**Nico frowned. "Masts_ are_ from trees." **

"Oh Nico."

Laughter was heard from the corner of the room, a few turned to see a camper on the ground, laughing so hard that no sound came from his open mouth.

A few other bit their lips..._hard_.

**"That's not the point!" Leo snatched up one of his controls, a jury-rigged Nintendo Wii stick, and spun it in a circle. A few feet away, a trapdoor opened in deck. A Celestial bronze cannon rose. Hazel just had time to cover her ears before it discharged into the sky, spraying a dozen metal spheres that trailed green fire. **

A few campers whooped with excitement.

"You go, Leo!"

**The spheres grew spikes in midair, like helicopter blades, and spun away into the fog. **

Harley smiled widely, "Even better, man."

**A moment later, a series of explosions crackled across the mountains, followed by the outraged roar of mountain gods. **

**"Ha!" Leo yelled.**

"This is _so_ going to backfire on them." Grover stated.

Most of the campers shrugged in agreement.

That tended to happen a lot on quests.

**Unfortunately, Hazel guessed, judging from their last two encounters, Leo's newest weapon had only annoyed the _numina. _**

A son of Hermes smiled lightly, "If you can't hurt someone, the next best thing is to annoy them."

**Another boulder whistled through the air off to their starboard side. **

**Nico yelled, "Get us out of here!" **

Chiron let out a long sigh, "Good plan, Nico."

**Leo muttered some unflattering comments about _numina,_ but he turned to the wheel. The engines hummed. Magical rigged lashed itself tight, and the ship tacked to port. The _Argo II _picked up speed, retreating northwest, as they'd been doing for the past two days. **

Clarisse, her eyes averted towards the ground, as she muttered, "Never get a break, do they?"

Chris shrugged at her, "Demigods never do, Clarisse."

**Hazel didn't relax until they were out of the mountains. The fog cleared. Below them, morning sunlight illuminated the Italian countryside-rolling green hills and golden fields not too different from those in Northern California. Hazel could almost imagine she was sailing home to Camp Jupiter. **

"Most of us want you guys to just come home." Grover whispered, mostly thinking of Percy and Annabeth.

Rachael looked at him and patted his shoulder, "They'll be fine. Because they always are."

Most were comforted by the Oracle's words, except for Chiron, who fingers twitched slightly, wanting to finish the book already and be done with it.

**The thought weighed on her chest. Camp Jupiter had only been her home for nine months, since Nico had brought her back from the Underworld. But she missed it more than her birthplace of New Orleans, and _definitely_ more than Alaska, where she'd died back in 1942. **

Will shrugged his shoulders, "I'm sure anyone would miss somewhere other than the place they had died. You know, if they were brought back."

**She missed her bunk in the Fifth Cohort barracks. She missed dinners in the mess hall, with wind spirits whisking platters through the air and legionnaires joking about the war games. **

"We're so different...yet so similar."

"And born to fight." Clarisse added to a younger son of Ares' words.

**She wanted to wander the streets of New Rome, holding hands with Frank Zhang. She wanted to experience just being a regular girl for once, with an actual sweet, caring boyfriend. **

Most winced in sympathy.

Being a demigod was never easy, especially if your love was another demigod.

**Most of all, she wanted to feel safe. She was tired of being scared and worried all the time. **

"Welcome to the world of monsters and worrying, girl." Clarisse said.

But her face wasn't in her normal sneer, she actually sounded sympathetic for the daughter of Pluto, like she's been through the same thing.

**She stood on the quarterback as Nico picked mast splinters out of his arms and Leo punched buttons on the ship's console. **

Connor leaned towards Travis and whispered in his ear, "I hate splinters."

"Me to, bro. Me to."

**"Well, _that_ was sucktastic," Leo said. **

Most of the campers smiled slightly at Leo's words, while Connor busted out laughing.

"_Sucktastic_? That is officially my new favorite word, next to _Humbug_."

Chiron nodded his head, "Probably, but they should rest."

**Hazel was tempted to say yes, but the other crewmembers had taken the night shift and had earned their rest. They were exhausted from defending the ship. Every few hours, it seemed, some Roman monster had decided the _Argo II_ looked like a tasty treat. **

"Of course it looks tasty, we built it." Harley puffed out his chest and raised his chin.

The rest of the kids smiling proudly.

The _Argo II_ was one of their greatest achievements.

**A few weeks ago, Hazel wouldn't have believed that anyone could sleep through a _numina_ attack, but crash, she slept like a coma patient. **

Malcolm smiled slightly, "Nice imagery there, Hazel."

**"They need rest," she said. "We'll have to figure out another way on our own."  
**

**"Huh." Leo scowled at his monitor. In his tattered work shirt and grease-splattered jeans, he looked like he'd just lost a wrestling match with a locomotive. **

Nyssa smiled sadly, "Now, why do I think that that's possible for Leo?"

"Because he's Leo?" Will answered.

"Good answer." Connor said, patting the son of Apollo on the back, gazing at the golden arrows that rested in his quiver. **  
**

**Ever since their friends Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus-**

Chiron's voice faded.

Grover shivered and closed his eyes.

_Please. Percy, make it home. I'm begging you._

"He thinks it's his fault."

**Hazel worried about him. But part of her was relieved by the change. Whenever Leo smiled and joked, he looked _too_ much like Sammy, is great-grandfather...Hazel's first boyfriend back in 1942.  
**

** Ugh, why did her life have to be so complicated. **

"We ask ourselves that every day." A older Hermes camper stated, receiving nods from most of the campers in that room.

** "Another way," Leo muttered. "Do you see one?" **

"Around the mountains?" Connor asked.

Chiron nodded, "Maybe, Connor."

** On his monitor glowed a map of Italy. The Apennine Mountains ran down the middle of the boot-shaped country. A green dot for the _Argo II_ blinked on the western side of the range, a few hundred miles north of Rome. Their path should have been simple. They needed to get to a place called Epirus in Greece and find an old temple called the House of Hades (or Pluto, as the Romans called him; or as Hazel liked to think of him: the World's Worst Absent Father). **

Rachael shrugged, "Most Greek god fathers are the _World's Worth Absent Father's_."

** To reach Epirus, all they had to do was go straight east-over the Apennines and across the Adriatic Sea. But it hadn't worked out that way. Each time they tried to cross the spine of Italy, the mountain gods attacked. **

"Oh." Was all Connor said.

"How delightful." Chris said, his voice to the brim with honesty.

No, just ticklin' your peach. It was **_sarcasm_**.

** For the past two days they'd skirted north, hoping to find a safe pass, with no luck. **

"Sadly, most quests work that way."

** "It's our fault," Hazel said. "Nico and mine." The _numina_ can sense us."  
She glanced at her half brother. Since they'd rescued him from the giants, he'd started to regain his strength, but he was still painfully thin. His black shirt and jeans hung off his skeletal frame. Long, dark hair framed his sunken eyes. His olive complexion had turned a sickly greenish-white, like the color of tree sap. **

Chiron winced for Nico.

Even though the young boy was somewhat strange, he felt responsible for him.

Much of how Percy felt.

** In human years, he was barely fourteen, just a year older than Hazel; but that didn't tell the whole story. Like Hazel, Nico di Angelo was a demigod from another era. He radiated a kind of _old_ energy-a melancholy that came from knowing he didn't belong in the modern world. **

The ones who had met Nico, looked at each other with understanding.

He never really had felt comfortable around other people, except for Percy maybe.

** Hazel hadn't known him very long, but she understood, even shared his sadness. The children of Hades (Pluto-whichever) rarely had happy lives. And judging from what Nico had told her the night before, their biggest challenge was yet to come when they reached the House of Hades- a challenge he'd implored her to keep secret from the others. **

"A secret?" Malcolm asked, leaning towards Chiron slightly.

"That's what it says, child." Chiron nodded.

"Secrets should seriously be banned from quests." Katie murmured.

"Agreed." Malcolm answered.

** Nico gripped the hilt of his Stygian iron sword. "Earth spirits don't like children of the Underworld. That's true. We get under their skin-_literally_.-**

Half of the campers smirked at the pun...while the other half glared at them, wanting them to shut up and get on with the story.

"Chiron, can you please keep reading?"

"Of course, Chris."

** -But I think the _numina _could sense this ship anyway. We're carrying the Athena Parthenos. That thing is like a magical beacon.**

Travis laughed out loud, "Magical _bacon_! Man, the Greeks would not like that."

"We are the Greeks, Travis." Chris reminded his brother.

He looked confused for a moment and then he muttered, "Oh...never mind."

** Hazel shivered, thinking of the massive statue that took up mosty of the hold. They'd sacrificed so much, saving it from the cavern under Rome; but they had no idea what to do with it. So far the only thing it seemed to be good for was alerting more monsters to their presence. ****Leo traced his finger down the map of Italy. "So crossing the mountains is out. Thing is, they go a long way in either direction." **

**"We could go by sea," Hazel suggested. "Sail around the southern tip of Italy." **

** "That's a long way," Nico said. "Plus, we don't have..." **

Silence hung heavily in the air.

"Percy. They don't have Percy."Grover answered in a soft voice, missing his best friend more than ever.

"Yeah. Well, that makes two of us who miss him." Nyssa answered, giving Grover a kind white smile, despite the small amount of grim on her cheek.

** His voice cracked. "You know...our sea expert, Percy."  
**

**The name hung in the air like an impending storm. **

"Simile." Malcolm stated.

Most of them looked at him, confusion written all over their faces.

"You know...comparing something with like or as. Percy with a incoming storm? Son of Poseidon? Water? Okay, forget I ever said anything."

** Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon...probably the demigod Hazel admired the most. **

"Aww..." Lacy sniffed. "A lot of campers admire Percy. He's extremely loyal to everyone and very kind."

**He'd saved her life so many times on their quest to Alaska; but when he had needed Hazel's help in Rome, she'd failed him. **

"Would you just stop blaming yourselves! If it's anyone's fault, it's Gaea's!" Surprisingly, Malcolm was the one who yelled at the book in Chiron's hands.

It was silent for a moment before Clarisse, one of the most unlikely people to do this, gave him a sad look, "We know, Owl Head. But we can't help it."

The son of Athena let out a few long breaths before sitting back down, leaning against one of his older brothers, "Thank you."

"Please, if you would?" He asked, looking up at Chiron.

The centaur obliged.

** Hazel took a deep breath. Percy and Annabeth were still alive. She knew that in her heart.**

"Oh, thank gods." Almost everyone breathed out a sigh of relief.

** She could still help them if she could get to the House of Hades, if she could survive the challenge Nico had warned her about...**

"You mean the secret?"

"I assume."

** "What about continuing north?" she asked. "There _has_ to be a break in the mountains, or something."  
Leo fiddled with the bronze Archimedes sphere that he'd installed on the console-his newest and most dangerous toy. Every time Hazel looked at the thing, her mouth went dry. She worried that Leo would turn the wrong combination the sphere and accidentally eject them all from the deck, or blow up the ship, or turn the _Argo II_ into a giant toaster.  
Fortunately, they got lucky. The sphere grew a camera lens and projected a 3D image of the Apennine Mountains above the console. **

"Thank the gods nothing blew up."

** "I dunno." Leo examined the holograph. "I don't see any good passes to the north. But I like the idea better than backtracking south. I'm done with Rome." **

A few campers from the Nike and Athena cabin exchanged looks.

"So are we."

** No one argued with that. Rome had not been a good experience.  
"Whatever we so," Nico said, "we have to hurry. Every day that Annabeth and Percy are in Tartarus..." **

"It's going to one of the hardest thing they ever had to do." Grover whispered, his voice cracking and Rachael gripped his hand.

"It isn't one of the hardest things they have to do. It _is_ the hardest thing they have to do." Katie was the one that responded to Grover.

** He didn't need to finish. They had to hope Percy and Annabeth could survive long enough to find the Tartarus side of the Doors of Death.**

"They will. Because they're Percy and Annabeth. Together, their unstoppable." Rachael pledged confidently.

"Did you just take that out of a movie?" Miranda asked.

"Probably."

** Then, assuming the _Argo II _could reach the House of Hades, they _might _be able to open the doors on the mortal side, save their friends, and seal the entrance, stopping Gaea's forces from being reincarnated in the mortal world, over and over.-  
**

"Let's make sure that that _might_, happens."

** -Yes...nothing could go wrong with _that_ plan. **

"If you keep saying that, it will."

** Nico scowled at the Italian countryside below them. "Maybe we _should_ wake the others. The decision affects us all." **

"Please?"

** "No," Hazel said. **

"Dammit."

**"We can find a solution."**

"Yes you can. You can do anything you set your mind to." Malcolm said.

"Well..."

"Don't push him, he's being an over protective brother. He's worried about Annabeth."

Katie turned away from Connor and smiled at the son of Athena.

"Sometimes, acting when someone isn't here is all we can do."

** She wasn't sure why she felt strongly about it, but since leaving Rome, the crew had started to lose its cohesion. They'd been learning to work as a team. Then _bam_...their two most important members fell into Tartarus. **

"Correction." Travis said, before muttering in an undertone, "I am _so_ betting my butt beat for this."

"Percy let go of the ledge, so it's kind his faul-_okay...just kidding_." He rushed out the last words, shrinking back behind Connor as everyone glowered at him.

**Percy had been their backbone.**

Grover laughed without humor, "He's kinda everyone's backbone."

** He'd given them confidence as they sailed across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean. **

"He tends to do that. Annoying punk." Clarisse muttered, a undertone of sadness barley showing in her voice.

"Daughter of Athena."

** If Hazel woke up the rest of the crew every time they had a problem, they'd just start arguing again, feeling more and more hopeless.  
She had to make Percy and Annabeth proud of her.**

Campers all glanced at one another, smiling sadly.

"This book is going to kill me before we even finish the first chapter." Malcolm groaned.

** "We need some creative thinking," she said. "Another way to cross those mountains, or a way to hide ourselves from the _numina._"  
Nico sighed. "If I was on my own, I could shadow-travel. But that won't work for an entire ship. And honestly, I'm not sure I have the strength to even transport _myself_ anymore." **

"True."

** "I could maybe rig some kind of camouflage," Leo said, "like a smoke screen to hide us in the clouds." He didn't sound very enthusiastic. **

** Hazel stared down at the rolling farmland, thinking about what lay beneath it-the realm of her father, lord of the Underworld. She'd only met Pluto once, and she hadn't realized who he was. She certainly had never expected help from him-not when she was alive the first time, not during her time as a spirit in the Underworld, not since Nico had brought her back to the world of the living. **

** Her dad's servant Thanatos, god of death, had suggested that Pluto might be doing Hazel a favor by ignoring her. After all, she wasn't supposed to be alive. If Pluto took notice of her, he might have to return her to the land of the dead. **

"Honestly, I don't think he would." Chiron whispered to the book before continuing.

** Which meant calling on Pluto would be a very bad idea.  
And yet... **

"Pray." Malcolm whispered.

** _Please, Dad,_ she found herself praying. _I_ have _to find a way to your temple in Greece-the House of Hades. If you're down there, show me what to do._ **

"Come one Hades...er...Pluto. Whoever the hell you are right now. _Show me the sign_!" Travis cried out, making Connor smirked with amusement.

** At the edge of the horizon, a flicker of movement caught her eye-something small and beige racing across the fields at incredible speed, leaving a vapor trail like a plane's. **

The son of Hermes's hands dropped and he stared with disbelief at the book.

"No way."

Malcolm nodded, smiling, "He answered her."

** Hazel couldn't believe it. She didn't dare hope, but it _had_ to be..."Arion." **

**"What?" Nico asked. **

**Leo let out a happy whoop as the dust cloud got closer. **

The rest of the campers all grinned, hi-fived and cheered.

"I love that horse!"

** "It's her horse, man! You missed that whole part. We haven't seen him since Kansas!" **

** Hazel laughed-the first time she'd laughed in days.**

"Laughing is good for you health."

** About a mile to the north, the small beige dot circled a hill and stopped at the summit. He was difficult to make out, but when the horse reared and whinnied, the sound carried all the way to the _Argo II_. Hazel had no doubt-it was Arion.**

** "We have to meet him," she said. "He's here to help." **

** "Yeah, okay." Leo scratched his head. "But, uh, we talked about not landing the ship on the ground anymore, remember? You know, with Gaea wanting to destroy us, and all." **

"Good point."

** "Just get me close, and I'll use the rope ladder." Hazel's heart was pounding. "I think Arion wants to tell me something." **

"Hopefully. Now, to the horse!"

Chiron looked around the room and held up the book.

"Who would like-" He stopped midsentence when almost everyone raised their hands.

"Chiron!"

"I need that book!"

"Please, sir! I need to read it!"

"Just throw it at someone's head and read it!"

Chiron handed the book to Rachael, who smiled at him.

She settled down and began reading, "**Hazel II**."

**So, like it? Review and I hope you have an amazing weekend. Sorry that I couldn't update earlier. My computer had crashed and deleted some of my Word documents and I almost cried because that was hella important stuff, so I kinda stopped for a few days because I was angry. And half of my fandom had collapsed and the other half is telling the other half to shut up. So...yeah. I'll update next week on Wednesday, because I get outta school early...ish. But yeah. **

**I'm surprised that so many people have Favorited this story. You guys are crazy. :) Love you guys though! **

**Love, **

**BlackConverse3**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sup my lovelies! So, about my MoA story. You know the word documents that I said got deleted, sadly, because my life sucks, it just happened to be 3 of my MoA documents. And when I say 3, I usually put 4 to 5 chapters in one document. And I know what chapter I was on, but then I have to rewrite EVERYTHING, except for chapters 1-3 and then the Song-Fic that I added into the story. But everything else, gone. It's a complete pain in my donkey, but ya know. What can you do when your computer decides it hates you and wants to screw up your life? Nothing. And someone just screamed...so I'm gonna check outside to make sure my father did not fall off the freaking roof...NOPE. He's alive. Happy Halloween! What were you? I was Dean Winchester-my little pooplet. I would say the another word, but I don't know how many children are reading this...I really don't think people look at the age rating things. I know I don't. But yeah...I was gonna update yesterday, but I was writing a slam poem about 9/11 and I had to watch hours of footage about the towers and it was torture. But, I will give you a list of when I will be updating at the bottom. So, enjoy the story. :) And if you couldn't tell, I was going to update on Thursday, but I had to give out candy...but, I reread the House of Hades and was working on this while I was doing so. So, good day.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson, the bold words go to Rick Riordan, our dear Uncle Rick!**

Rachael opened the book and read, "**Hazel II**."

**Hazel had never felt so happy. Well, except for maybe the night of the victory feast at Camp Jupiter, when she'd kissed Frank** **for the first time. . . but this was a close second. **

"Fair enough." Lucy said. She's pretty sure she would feel that way if she had had her first kiss.

"Eh, I'd love the horse more." Travis said and Katie rolled her eyes.

"That's because no one has ever kissed you Stoll."

He turned to her and smirked, his eyebrow quirking up, "Well, Kate. Is that an invitation?"

"Shut up, Stoll." She snapped, before turning away.

**As soon as she reached the ground, she ran to Arion and threw her arms around his neck. **

"Aww..." A few cooed.

"But come on, who couldn't love that horse?"

Will shrugged and began counting off with her fingers.

"Monsters, gods he annoyed, Titians, Giants, Gaea-"

"Okay, okay. Rachael, if you please before we're here all night?"

**"I missed you!" She pressed her face into the horse's warm flank, which smelled of sea salt and apples. "Where have you been?" **

"Around eating apples and hanging around the sea."

**Arion nickered. Hazel wished she could speak Horse like Percy could,-**

Most campers laughed.

Chris chuckled with amusement, "It hilarious to watch him get irritated when the pegasus are nearby. I think his head gets over loaded with conversations from those guys, all the time."

**-but she got the general idea. Arion sounded impatient, as if saying, _No time for sentiment, girl! Come on!_**

**"You want me to go with you?" she guessed. **

"No, he wants you to take him to the ship so he can hoof along to Coach Hedge singing the _National Anthem_." Lou Ellen stated.

"You _are_ being sarcastic right, Lou?" Connor asked the daughter of Hecate, who rolled her eyes.

"No. I'm being completely serious."

The son of Hermes' eyebrows furrowed and his lips formed a straight line. A face _no one_ has ever seen before...

_His thinking face. _

Rachael, getting annoyed but the two's banter, decided to read, of course not without stating loudly, "Will you two hurry up and kiss already? Your worse than Percy and Annabeth."

The two sputtered with protest and curses at her, while she got hi-fives from several dozen campers.

**Arion bobbed his head, trotting in place. His dark brown eyes gleamed with urgency. **

"So...go now." Will murmured.

**Hazel still couldn't believe he was actually here. He could run across any surface, even the sea; but she'd been afraid he wouldn't follow them into the Ancient Lands. **

Grover shook his head so hard, his curly brown hair moved like a pom-pom.

"Anyone would follow you into the Ancient Lands. Your family."

"Here, here." Rachael smiled.

**The Mediterranean was too dangerous for demigods and their allies. **

Chiron let out a sigh, "True. And, this is their quest. We cannot interfere. It's up to them to defeat the Giants and it's up to us to make sure they have a home to return to."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

**He wouldn't have come unless Hazel was in dire need. And he seemed so agitated...Anything that could make a fearless horse skittish should have terrified Hazel. **

"You can do anything you put your mind..." Will's voice faded.

"Okay, scratch that. As a demigod's point of view, you can try to, but be careful because there's a 89% chance that you'll burn to a crisp. But, still. Try not to die?"

**Instead, she felt elated. **

"You go Hazel!" Most of the people in the room cheered.

**She was _so_ tired of being seasick and airsick. Aboard the _Argo II_, she felt about as useful as a box of ballast.**

"Good. Keep thinking that way, girl." A daughter of Ares muttered.

"You'll do fine."

**She was glad to be back on solid ground, even if it was Gaea's territory. She was ready to ride. **

"You know who she sounds like?" Grover whispered.

Rachael looked at him curiously and then realization dawned on her.

"She does sound like him, well...him on most days."

**"Hazel!" Nico called down from the ship. "What's going on?" **

**"It's fine!" She crouched down and summoned a gold nugget from the earth. She was getting better at controlling her power. **

"Nice." Lou grinned.

"Always a good thing." Will said, softly untangling a piece of grass from one of his arrows.

"I swear to the gods, you're in love with that bow." The daughter of Hecate said, looking at the son of Apollo.

He gasped, placing his hand over his heart and snapped, "Don't take about Julie that way! She didn't mean it baby, shhhh...it's okay." He caressed his bow, trying to keep the grin off his face as he repeated on calling his bow names.

"You sir. Are a loser."

**Precious stones hardly ever popped up around her b accident anymore, and pulling gold from the ground was easy. **

Around the room, you could hear several people muttering "Lucky" and "Wish I could do that".

**She fed Arion the nugget. . . his favorite snack. Then she smiled up at Leo and Nico, who were watching her from the top of the ladder a hundred feet above. "Arion wants to take me somewhere." **

"Be careful Hazel."

**The boys exchanged nervous looks. **

"Something bad is gonna happen."

"How would you know that?"

"Because something bad always happened on quests."

"Touché."

**"Uh. . ." Leo pointed north. "Please tell me he's not taking you into _that_?" **

"Oh look. More fun stuff."

"And what's _there_?" Grover asked.

**Hazel had been so focused on Arion, she hadn't noticed the disturbance. A mile away, on the crest of the next hill, a storm gathered over some old stone ruins-maybe the remains of a Roman temple or fortress. A funnel cloud snaked its way down toward the hill like an inky black finger. **

"Yeah. Go towards the creepy black smoke that's moving. Best plan ever." Travis muttered, his sarcasm hiding the fear he held in his stomach for the seven.

He felt like something was about to happen. They were going to see something they didn't want to.

He noticed Chiron looking at him and the centaur gave him a slight nod, showing him that he was thinking the same thing.

**Hazel's mouth tasted like blood. She looked at Arion. "You want to go _there_?" **

**Arion whinnied, as if to say, _Uh duh!_**

"Okay. Demigods I understand. Horse's are crazy."

"Isn't Percy half horse?" Connor quirked out, making a few laugh and a few glare.

"Dude, Lord Poseidon will kill you!" A campers snapped angrily.

"What? Come on, that was a little funny." He asked, and no one said anything.

"Guys?"

**Well. . . Hazel had asked for help. Was this her dad's answer? **

"Most likely."

**She hoped so, but she sensed something besides Pluto at work in that storm. . .something dark, powerful, and not necessarily friendly. **

"Okay. If she sees Gaea..."

"I'm going to die before we get to chapter five." Katie finished Chris's sentence.

**Still, this was her chance to help her friends-to lead instead of follow. **

**She tightened the straps on her Imperial gold cavalry sword and climbed onto Arion's back. **

"Nice sword." A few nodded.

**"I'll be okay!" she called up to Nico and Leo. "Stay put and wait for me." **

**"Wait for how long?" Nico asked. "What if you don't come back?" **

**"Don't worry, I will." she promised, hoping it was true. **

"I just had a bad thought. Do you think he had this exact conversation with Bianca when they went to find Annabeth and Artemis?" Will asked.

Everyone fell silent.

They remember about Bianca's death. Percy had been blamed by Nico and most knew that Percy probably still blamed himself.

"Can we continue? I don't want to think about what happens if people don't come back." Lacy asked and the Oracle nodded, happy to get on with the story.

**She spurred Arion, and they shot across the countryside, heading straight for the growing tornado. **

She let out a breath and tossed the book to Lou's waiting hands.

"Thanks, Rach." She nodded and opened it up to the right page.

"Okay. Here we go."

She began, "**Hazel III**."

**Oh gods guys. I just had that thought about Nico and Bianca. What if he did? That must suck...Yeah. So, like it? Review and blah-blah. Hope your all hyped up on candy if you got any. Hope you stayed safe, if you went out. :) This chapter is really short, so I'm updating again on Sunday. Have an awesome weekend! **

**Love, **

**BlackConverse3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey my lovelies, sorry I couldn't update. My computer had stopped working and I finally got a new battery! And ****I had to write a Slam Poem. It was awesome and I made someone cry, probably because I have extremely bad stage fright, so I started shaking badly and crying because I was so terrified, even though, everyone in my class are like family and I love them more than anything.**

**I do not own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does!**

Lou cleared her throat and began, "**Hazel III**."

**The storm swallowed the hill in a swirling cone of black vapor.**

"Reminds me of ice cream. You know, the swirl?" Connor mumbled, making a swirly pattern with his index finger in the air.

**Arion charged straight into it.**

"Brave horse." Chiron smiled.

**Hazel found herself at the summit, but it felt like a different dimension. The world lost its color. **

Grover shivered, "The world losing its color is like the world losing _Pan_."

Clarrise opened her mouth to say _Well, we did lose Pan_ but she though better of it and stayed silent.

**The walls of the storm encircled the hill in murky black. The sky churned gray. The crumbling ruins were bleached so white, they almost glowed. **

"Creepy." Chris whispered.

**Even Arion had turned from carmel brown to a dark shade of ash. **

**In the eye of the tempest, the air was still. Hazel's skin tingled coolly, as if she'd been rubbed with alcohol. In front of her, an arched gateway led through mossy walls into some sort of enclosure. **

"I wouldn't go in there. You might get attacked."

"Go ahead, take the risk." A Ares camper urged, only to be glared at by Miranda.

**Hazel couldn't see much through the gloom, but she felt a presence within, as if she were a chuck of iron close to a large magnet. **

"If something is pulling you in, _normally_ that means you should avoid it completely." Will stated, nodding his head at his words.

"But whoever said we were normal?" Malcolm asked.

"Touché Malcolm. Touché."

**Its pull was irresistible, dragging her forward. Yet she hesitated. **

"Good instincts." Clarisse said, nodding her head.

**She reined in Arion, and he clopped impatiently, the ground crackling under his hooves. Wherever he stepped, the grass, dirt, and stones turned white like frost. Hazel remembered the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska-how the surface had cracked under her feet. She remembered the floor of that horrible cavern in Rome crumbling to dust, plunging Percy and Annabeth into Tartarus. **

The mood sobered, eyes averted towards the ground and several campers let out deep breaths.

"They'll be fine. They'll be fine." Grover whispered.

**She hoped this black-and-white hilltop wouldn't dissolve under her, but she decided it was best to keep moving. **

"Good plan."

**"Let's go, then, boy." Her voice sounded muffled, as if she were speaking into a pillow. **

"I do that all the time. So much fun." Travis cracked a smile.

"Yeah, you can say whatever you want and it's hard for people to hear you." Connor agreed.

Katie stared at the two for a moment before shaking her head, "Idiots."

**Arion trotted through the stone archway. Ruined walls bordered a square courtyard about the size of a tennis court. The other gateways, one in the middle of each wall, led north, east, and west. In the center of the yard, two cobblestone paths intersected, making a cross. Mist hung in the air- hazy shreds of white that coiled and undulated as if they were alive. **

Lou gasped, "No way. Is it..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

"What is it?" A son of Demeter asked.

"Get on with it Ellen!" Clarisse grumbled impatiently.

**Not mist, Hazel realized. _The Mist. _**

"Ohs" were heard across the whole room.

"No way. You mean it's an actual mist?"

Chiron nodded to Rachael's question and answered, "Of course. Why else would it get the name?"

**All her life, she'd heard about the Mist- the supernatural veil that obscured the world of myth from the sight of mortals. It could deceive humans, even demigods, into seeing monsters as harmless animals, or gods as regular people. **

"And thank gods for that." Grover said, getting several nods of agreement.

**Hazel had never thought of it as acutal smoke, but as she watched it curling around Arion's legs, floating through the broken arches of the ruined courtyard, the hairs stood up on her arms. Somehow she knew: this white stuff was pure magic. **

"Well...yeah." Katie muttered.

**In the distance, a dog howled. Arion wasn't usually scared of anything, but he reared, huffing nervously. **

"Okay, anything to make that horse nervous, would make me nervous." Chris said.

"It would make anyone nervous." Chiron supplied.

**"It's okay." Hazel stroked his neck. "We're in this together. I'm going to get down, all right?" **

**She slid off Arion's back. Instantly he turned and ran. **

"Arion!" Almost everyone whined with protest.

**"Arion, wai-"**

**But he'd already disappeared the way he'd come. **

"Well. So much for staying together." Katie muttered.

**So much for being in this together. **

"Ha, you think like Hazel, Kate."

"Good." She told Will.

Connor and Travis exchanged glances and yelled together, "_**We're all this together,**_

_**Once we know**_

_**That we are**_

_**We're all stars**_

_**And we see that**_

_**We're all in this together**_

_**And it shows**_

_**When we stand**_

_**Hand in hand**_

_**Make our dreams come true**_!"

"For the love of gods, shut up before I tear you a new one!" Clarrise yelled at the brothers, who were laughing on the floor.

Around the room, people were all laughed and rolled their eyes.

**Another howl cut through the air- closer this time. **

"Oh joy." Will said, recovering from laughing with the rest of the campers.

**Hazel stepped towards the center of the courtyard. The Mist clung to her like freezer fog. **

**"Hello?" she called. **

**"Hello," a voice answered.**

A few campers jumped.

Katie swerved to Lou and asked, "Someone's with her?"

**The pale figure of a woman appeared at the northern gateway. No, wait. . .she stood at the eastern entrance. No, the unison toward the center of the ruins. **

"Wait...what? I'm confused." Will stated.

**Her form was blurred, made of Mist, and she was trailed by two smaller wisps of smoke, darting at her heels like animals. Some sort of pets?**

"Most likely."

**She reached the center of the courtyard and her three forms merged into one.**

Chiron said, "Ah. Her."

"You know her? What is she?" Lou asked.

Chiron just smiled at her kindly, "You'll find out soon dear."

**She solidified into a young woman in a dark sleeveless gown. Her golden hair was gathered into a high-set ponytail, Ancient Greek style. Her dress was so silky, it seemed to ripple, as if the cloth were ink spilling off her shoulders. She looked no more than twenty, but Hazel knew that meant nothing. **

"More like a thousand." Connor said.

Grover looked at him and said, "Connor, the gods are more the a thousand."

"I know, I was just...never mind. I don't remember where I was going with that."

**"Hazel Levesque," said the woman. **

"Well," Clovis said, "That's never good."

**She was beautiful, but deathly pale. Once, back in New Orleans, Hazel had been forced to attend a wake for a dead classmate. She remembered the lifeless body of the young girl in the open casket. Her face had been made up prettily, as if she were resting, which Hazel found terrifying. **

"True." Chiron whispered.

He'd seen enough dead children for one lifetime.

**This woman reminded Hazel of that girl- except the woman's eyes were open and completely black. **

Lou opened her mouth but no sound came out.

Then she tilted her head to the side and whispered, "Oh..."

"You know who it is?" Malcolm asked.

"I think so." She answered.

**When she tilted her head, she seemed to break into three people again. . . misty afterimages blurring together, like a photograph of someone moving too fast to capture. **

"Hate that when it happened."

**"Who are you?" Hazel's fingers twitched at the hilt of her sword. "I mean. . . which goddess?" **

**Hazel was sure of that much. This woman radiated power. Everything around them- the swirling Mist, the monochromatic storm, the eerie glow of the ruins- was because of her presence. **

"Mist. Mist. _Mist...Mis_- _Oh_...I know who it is." Katie whispered.

**"Ah." The woman nodded. "Let me give you some light." **

**She raised her hands. Suddenly she was holding two old fashioned reed torches, guttering with fire. The Mist receded to the edges of the courtyard. At the woman's sandaled feet, the two wispy animals took on solid form. One was a black Labrador retreiver. The other was a long, gray, furry rodent with a white mask around its face. A weasel, maybe?**

Lou laughed, "Close, but no."

**The woman smiled serenely. **

**"I am Hecate," she said.**

"Oh..." Everyone else in the room said, their faces awed.

** "Goddess of magic. We have a lot to discuss if you're to live through tonight."**

"What does she mean by that?" Clarrise sneered.

"Probably nothing good. As much as I would love to read about Mom, someone else needs a turn." Lou said and Will thrust out his hand.

Lou smiled at him and placed it into his waiting palm.

"Thank you, Lou." He flashed her a grin and opened the book.

He cleared his throat, like how he did before he got read to sin-

"You're not gonna _sing_ the chapter are you?" Connor asked, cautiously.

The son of Apollo glared while Connor shrugged, "Hey man. Just read it _normally_ okay,_ Big Sun_?"

"Shut up." He grumbled.

"**Hazel IV**."

** Sorry about the High School Musical reference...I couldn't resist. So, I'm going to update as soon as I can. Hope you have an amazing weekend and rest of your day! **

**Love, **

**BlackConverse3**


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